The future of our hospital, which is operating within the guidelines of the Croatian health care system development as well as that of the psychiatric services, must be viewed from the perspective of regional importance of Psychiatric Hospital Rab. In fact, soon it will very probably be serving a population of half a million people. Seen in that light, consideration of an increase of capacity as well as of additional employment of highly educated health care staff is thus made possible. Apart from the current tendencies of a systematic and permanent increase of quality of accommodation and treatment for the psychiatric patients, a programme is being prepared, which was announced in 2004, called the Knowledge Investment Programme. It is a programme of investment in knowledge and permanent training for highly qualified staff so that they would be able to meet the challenges of psychiatry in 21st century. Departments for child and adolescent psychiatry and for neurology patients with psychiatric symptoms will have to be added to the current organizational and functional structure. Also, the strengthening of the ongoing projects of telemedicine and the so called psychiatry in the community will have to be continued. Co-operation with the Law School, University of Rijeka; Psychology department, University of Rijeka; Croatian Institute for Brain Research at Medical School, University of Zagreb; Centre for Epilepsy at Neurology Clinic at Rebro Hospital and most of all with the Institute of Medical Psychology at Medical School, University of Zagreb, as well as with other institutions is continuously growing. A successful project of undergraduate and graduate part-time studies is being realized in cooperation with Medical School, University of Rijeka and has been successfully running for more than 8 years now.